Crypt near Marilyn Monroe, Hugh Hefner to be auctioned off, estimated to sell for $400,000

An auction house will soon open bidding for a one-space mausoleum crypt near the final resting places of Marilyn Monroe and Playboy magazine founder Hugh Hefner.

Julien's Auctions, an auction house based in Beverly Hills, California, is orchestrating the sale of the 34- by 28-inch space categorized as "Lot #638." The bidding is scheduled to go live at 10 a.m. PDT on Saturday.

"The space is located in the Corridor of Memories, Wall B, Space C-3 at Pierce Brothers Westwood Village Memorial Park & Mortuary in Los Angeles, California," according to the Julien's Auctions' site. "It is situated one row above and four spaces to the left of Monroe's."

The space is estimated to sell anywhere between $200,000 to $400,000, Julien's Auction said.

Hugh Hefner, Marilyn Monroe connections

After Monroe died on Aug. 4, 1962, at age 36, her ex-husband and baseball legend Joe DiMaggio held a private funeral for the model and actor in the cemetery chapel four days later, according to the auction house.

"DiMaggio is reported to have chosen this location because Grace Goddard and Ana Lower, who had both helped care for Monroe as a young girl when her mother became incapacitated, had been buried there," the auction house said. "Monroe fans from around the world continue to make pilgrimages to the cemetery to pay respects to the entertainer."

Hefner and Monroe have connections going back to 1953, when the magazine owner launched Playboy with the screen icon on the cover. The copy also included a nude photo Monroe posed for in 1949, Julien's Auctions said.

"(Hefner) purchased the crypt to the immediate left of hers in 1992 and was interred there shortly after his death in 2017," according to the auction house. "In a 2009 interview with (the) Los Angeles Times, Hefner discussed the purchase, saying, 'Spending eternity next to Marilyn is an opportunity too sweet to pass up.'"

Other notable names deceased at Pierce Brothers Westwood include actors Natalie Wood, Farrah Fawcett, and Ryan O'Neal, novelist and screenwriter Truman Capote, Twentieth Century Fox President Darryl F. Zanuck, Monroe's "Some Like It Hot" co-star Jack Lemmon, and Billy Wilder, who directed Monroe in "The Seven Year Itch" and "Some Like It Hot."

Other belongings of Hugh Hefner, Marilyn Monroe are to be auctioned off

In addition to the one-space mausoleum crypt, Julien's Auctions will sell over 600 historic artifacts and other personal items belonging to Monroe, Hefner and Playboy Enterprises from Thursday until Saturday.

Some of the items available will be a black dress Monroe wore while filming "Some Like It Hot," various paintings from Alberto Vargas and Leroy Neiman and Hefner's burgundy smoking jacket with silk pajamas and slippers.

Buyers must register on Julien's Auctions' site to bid for the items.